Inside Pharmacy Tech Programs with Financial Aid (Online & Campus)

Online Pharmacy Tech Programs with Financial Support

Becoming a pharmacy tech doesn’t have to be expensive. There are plenty of training options out there, including ones featuring fully-online and hybrid formats along with affordable costs.

Plus, there are lots of financial aid resources available to help pay for your pharmacy tech education as well.

As you explore your online pharmacy tech training options, keep in mind the following factors:

• Total costs (including tuition, fees, costs of books, materials, etc.)
• Availability of financial aid resources that you qualify for
• Delivery formats (fully-online vs. hybrid, synchronous vs. asynchronous)
• Specific credential awarded (diploma, certificate, associate degree)

To give you a foundational idea of just how these programs work, here are profiles of three current online pharmacy tech programs that offer financial aid.

FAQs on Financial Aid: What to Know

Even after reading through the profiles above, it’s understandable that you have some unanswered questions about how programs work generally, how you can fund your education, and what to expect career-wise once you graduate.

To help in that regard, here are the answers to four questions often asked by prospective pharmacy tech students.

If I fill out a FAFSA form, can I receive financial aid for pharmacy technician schools?

You’ll still have to meet qualification requirements, of course. But by submitting the Free Application for Federal Student Aid (FAFSA), you can determine whether or not you qualify for a number of federal funding resources available through Federal Student Aid.

The FAFSA is also used by a number of state and other financial aid sources as well, so it’s to your benefit to submit your application as soon as possible.

Do pharmacy technicians get benefits?

If you work full-time as a pharmacy technician, you’ll likely be eligible to receive those benefits commonly provided by most employers.

For example, CVS Health, one of the largest pharmacy chains in the country, offers a variety of benefits to its employees, including:

• 401(k) retirement plans
• Tuition reimbursement opportunities
• Employee discounts.

Benefits packages vary substantially from employer to employer, however, so you should check the benefits offered when you apply for any position as a pharmacy technician.

How much does it cost to go to school for pharmacy technician training?

The costs of pharmacy technician programs vary widely – from as little as $700 for a basic online training program to as much as $40,000 for a full two-year associate degree program. It’s important, therefore, to take careful stock of your academic needs and career intentions before you settle on any online pharmacy tech program.

You will also, of course, want to take into account any and all potential financial aid resources available to you to help pay for your education.

Can you live off a pharmacy technician’s salary?

That will depend on you. However, to give you an idea of what you might expect to earn, according to the most current (2024) figures from the U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics, the average annual salary for a pharmacy technician is $43,460.

What you actually earn in your pharmacy tech job, though, will depend on a number of factors particular to you, including:

• Specific employer
• Geographic location (state, region, city, etc.)
• Level of professional experience
• Specific job duties

Types of Financial Support: Quick Breakdown

A variety of financial aid resources are available for pharmacy technician students, including the four listed below.

It’s important to emphasize that you must take the time and effort to search out the ones for which you qualify. And the best place to start that search is through the financial aid offices at each of the schools you’re considering.

Federal Student Aid

A number of government-sponsored financial aid resources are available to qualifying online pharmacy tech students through the U.S. Department of Education’s Federal Student Aid program. They include:

• Federal Pell Grants
• Direct Subsidized and Unsubsidized Loans
• Federal Work-Study
• Federal Supplemental Educational Opportunity Grants

As we mentioned earlier, to find out if you qualify for any of these opportunities, you’ll need to fill out and submit the FAFSA.

One thing is certain, though. You can’t qualify for any federal funding resources if your pharmacy tech program is not properly accredited.

Institutional Aid

Institutional aid is that which is offered directly by schools themselves. And when it comes to online pharmacy tech programs, that aid is quite common.

The three most common institutional aid types are:

• Merit-based and need-based scholarships and grants
• Tuition assistance (often offered in partnership with local employers)
• Tuition payment plans (see below)

Contact the financial aid offices at each of the schools you’re considering to learn about available institutional aid.

Payment Plans

To help spread out their education debt, many schools offers their students any of a number of tuition payment plans, the most common types being:

• Deferment plans that allow students to put off paying any of their tuition costs until after they graduate.
• Installment plans that let students make monthly payments on their total tuition bill.

These plans are often interest-free, but you will likely have to pay an upfront fee in order to participate. To find out if tuition payment plans are available for your pharmacy tech program, check with your school’s financial aid office.

Scholarships and Grants

Scholarships and grants are among the most popular of all forms of financial aid for the simple reason that they’re not paid back, making them essentially “free money” to help recipients finance their educations.

While often thought of as interchangeable, there are differences between most scholarship and grant awards, the biggest being that scholarships are typically merit-based and grants are most often need-based.

Eligibility requirements vary from award to award, so it’s critical that you consider requirement details carefully before applying.

It’s also critical that, when you apply, you follow all application requirements, including deadlines, exactly. Even a small mistake here can eliminate you from consideration entirely.

Examples:

GoodRx Students for Healthcare Equity Scholarship

• Amount: $5,000
• This scholarship is designed to foster diversity by helping students from minority or underrepresented backgrounds pursue degrees and certificates in the healthcare field. Applicants must have a GPA of 3.0 or higher.

American Association of Pharmacy Technicians (AAPT) Formal Education Scholarship

• Amount: Varies
• The AAPT sponsors this scholarship for future pharmacy technicians. Applicant must be a member of the AAPT and enrolled in an accredited pharmacy technician program to be considered.

Find more scholarships specifically for pharmacy technician students.